President Trump has delivered on one of his key campaign promises, at least to those in the crypto community: pardoning the sentencing of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht.
“I just called Ross William Ulbricht’s mother to let her know that in honor of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly, it was my pleasure to have signed a full and unconditional pardon for her son, Ross.” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
The move ensures an imminent release for Ulbricht, who in 2015 was convicted of engaging in an ongoing criminal enterprise and distributing narcotics, along with a host of related crimes, through his operation on the darknet marketplace Silk Road. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Ulbricht’s case has become a cause célèbre for many in the crypto community who point out that he himself did not sell drugs or other illegal items, but instead operated a platform where others were allowed to make transactions.
Then-candidate Trump promised a “day one” commutation of Ulbricht’s sentence last May while addressing the Libertarian Party convention.
The price of bitcoin (BTC) rose in the minutes following the news, possibly because the pardon, along with an avalanche of executive orders in recent hours, indicates the president’s intention to fulfill his campaign promises.
Another of those promises was a much friendlier crypto regulatory stance, including the possibility of the creation of a strategic reserve of bitcoins.
